"You're Not the Captain. You're Rowing Along With Them": Teacher Educators' Beliefs About Professional Development

• In Event: Diverse Modes of Facilitating Teacher Development

Abstract

A substantial and growing body of literature explores the ways science teachers learn from in-service professional development. However, little of this work examines the role of school and community-based teacher educators who can serve as the bridge between university-based research and the challenging realities of classrooms. In this qualitative case study, the perspectives and practices of four school and community-based teacher educators are examined through sociocultural theory and Giroux’s lens of teachers as transformative intellectuals. Findings show the ways in which teacher educators manage their own power and role in relationships with others and use both language tools and practice-based tools as they support teachers through difficult, sometimes tension-filled changes in their understandings and practices.

Authors

• Catherine Anne Lammert, Texas Tech University

• Eric A. Akuoko, The University of Iowa